While it may be true that virtue is its own reward, that idea is not always enough to motivate businesses to focus their efforts on good customer service. Sometimes they need big, scary numbers in order to get their attention.

Luckily, the infographic we’re sharing today from KISSmetrics has just that! There is a lot of great information to be found here about customer service and how much of an impact it can have on business. Here are 5 of the most eye-catching statistics we noticed:

1. The acceptable window in which customers would like to receive a response is very small. The majority was found to expect a response to a complaint in 1 day or less! Make sure you’re meeting that expectation, because after 1 week, a lot of customers will abandon you and move on to your competitors.

2. Of customers who complained about bad experiences, 79% did not receive a response. That gives you a big opportunity to stand out from the crowd in a relatively easy way by simply responding to complaints.

3. Because it costs far more to attract new customers to replace those that you lose through negative experiences, bad customer service ends up costing companies in the United States 83 billion dollars per year; 338 billion worldwide.

4. 70% of customers are willing to spend more with companies who provide great customer service. In the US, they would pay a 13% higher price tag for the experience.

5. The number one thing that companies could do to satisfy their customers’ criteria for good customer service is also the cheapest: 73% said that friendly employees and customer service reps were most important to them. While a friendly, happy employee may make the same amount of money as a surly one, the can save you a whole lot more in the end.

(Click the graphic below to view larger)

About the Author: Sarah Matista is the Online Content Specialist and resident blogger at Webs. Loves branding, marketing, whales. Get more from Sarah on Webs’ Blog and Google+.